President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview published this week that he has no concerns about any potential conflicts of interest related to Elon Musk leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) because Musk loves the U.S. more than his companies. Trump made the remarks in an interview with TIME that was published when the magazine announced that it had named Trump the “Person of the Year.” Trump was asked if Musk advocating for cuts at NASA could constitute a conflict of interest since that could benefit SpaceX, Musk’s space company. “I think that Elon puts the country long before his company,” Trump said. “I mean, he’s in a lot of companies, but he really is, and I’ve seen it. He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it. And, you know, I think, I think he’s one of the very few people that would have the credibility to do it, but he puts the country before, and I’ve seen it, before he puts his company.” CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Trump said that cuts were desperately needed to get federal spending under control and to encourage economic growth. “Look, we have a country that is bloated with rules, regulations and with, frankly, people that are unnecessary,” Trump said. “We are going to need a lot of people in a lot of other jobs. We’re looking to get people into private sector jobs where they can do better and be more productive. We’re going to see what happens. We have some interesting months coming up, at the beginning. We’re going to see what happens. But this country is bloated.”